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A first-generation college grad comes home as Kirkwood president

River to River, hosted by Ben Kieffer

The bankruptcy case of Mercy Iowa City has taken many twists and turns.

River to River host Ben Kieffer talks with The Gazette's Vanessa Miller about the October 27 announcement that the hospital reopened its assets auction and declared the University of Iowa the winning bidder over Preston Hollow Community, who topped the university's bid on October 10.

Later in the program, we talk with Kristie Fisher, who is in her first week on the job as president of Kirkwood Community College. Fisher has had several previous roles at Kirkwood, as giving director, vice president of student services and as a student.

We also talk with Des Moines Community Playhouse Director of Philanthropy Ryan Crane. On November 27, he'll assume the role of executive director for NAMI Iowa (National Alliance for Mental Illness.)

Guests:

  • Vanessa Miller, higher education reporter, The Gazette
  • Kristie Fisher, president, Kirkwood Community College
  • Ryan Crane, incoming executive director, NAMI Iowa
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River
Samantha McIntosh is a talk show producer at Iowa Public Radio. Prior to IPR, Samantha worked as a reporter for radio stations in southeast and west central Iowa under M&H Broadcasting, and before that she was a weekend music host for GO 96.3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dani Gehr is a producer for River to River and Talk of Iowa. Dani came to Iowa from her hometown in the northwest suburbs of Chicago to attend Iowa State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in journalism, international studies and French. Before coming to IPR, Dani covered local government in Story County for the Ames Tribune and Des Moines Register.